CHENNAI: In its first, the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) has set up a rehabilitation ward exclusively for homeless and unknown patients who remain in the hospital for long periods. Such patients usually stay in the parent speciality wards after getting treatment as they had nowhere to go. Hence, the hospital has decided to shift them to an exclusive ward.
The ward has 40 beds in total, with 20 beds each for men and women, offering a lot of facilities including healing garden, television, hygienic food and care.
“There are so many patients who are picked up from the roads and some, who are homeless, remain in the hospital wards for years after treatment. So, we have set up this rehab ward for such patients,” Dean of RGGGH Dr E Theranirajan told TNIE.
He said that the RGGGH has tied up with the Social Welfare Department to shift the patients to proper homes. “We had written a letter to the Welfare Department for corroboration to shift the patients to proper homes. They too agreed for it,” the dean said.
Dr Theranirajan said that patients normally come in for various treatments and sometimes, due to social circumstances too, they are dropped permanently in the hospital. “Recently, a son left his mother in the hospital and never came back. Such patients need proper care,” he said, adding that even BE graduates are there in this ward with no familial support.
The healing garden has a lot of greenery for the patients to give psychological relief. “Apart from that, we have been giving counseling to the patients for psychological and mental support,” he said.
The hospital has appointed a family medicine doctor to see through things and the ward has technicians, nurses, and ward boys exclusively.
Doctors said for the patients who have no family, the nurses here take care of them and even feed them with healthy food, prepared in the hospital itself.
The family medicine doctor coordinates with other departments for any surgeries and treatment for the patients.
Officials said that they earlier had tried contacting various NGOs to shift the patients but since many were physically disabled or not mentally well, the NGOs declined to shift them to shelter. “We tried many options to shift the patients but since nobody wanted to take them, we created a ward in the hospital itself,” said Dr Theranirajan.